title: Smoking in pregnancy: associations with skinfold thickness, maternal weight gain, and fetal size at birth.
abstract: Skinfold thickness is an index of subcutaneous fat, and certain maternal conditions during pregnancy affect the skinfold thicknesses of the baby. A study was performed to investigate the effect of smoking on skinfold thickness, maternal weight gain, and fetal size at birth. A total of 452 mothers with normal singleton pregnancies were groups as: non-smokers, light-to-moderate smokers, or heavy smokers. Maternal age, height, parity, and duration of pregnancy were similar in the three groups. Heavy smokers gained significantly less weight than non-smokers, but there was no significant difference in skinfold thickness. Babies born to smokers had lower birth weights and smaller head circumferences and were shorter than those born to non-smokers, but skinfold thicknesses were similar. The presence of a normal layer of subcutaneous fat in babies whose mothers smoked suggests that fetal growth retardation is not caused by nutritional deficiencies.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D001835:Body Weight; D002508:Cephalometry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D012907:Smoking